Com plementary Discussion on the Evolution of the Negative Words"Bu(不)"and"Fu(弗)"in Old Chinese:On the Origin of the Pronunciation of the"Fen Wu Qie(分勿切)"in"Bu(不)"
Com plementary Discussion on the Evolution of the Negative Words"Bu(不)"and"Fu(弗)"in Old Chinese:On the Origin of the Pronunciation of the"Fen Wu Qie(分勿切)"in"Bu(不)"
This paper focuses on the negative words"bu(不)"and"fu(弗)"in Old Chinese,utilizing the excavated and inherited documents from the Warring States,Qin and Han Dynasties,to reveal the evolution of"bu(不)"and"fu(弗)"in the different periods of the Old Chinese language.In the pre-Qin period,"fu(弗)"was a word composed of"bu(不)"and the antecedent object pronoun"zhi(之)".However,in the two Han periods,the decline of the pronoun-object antecedent and the gradual decline of the pronoun-object"zhi(之)",as well as the functional proximity of"bu(不)"and"fu(弗)"together made the etymology of the word"fu(弗)"gradually forgotten,and nowadays"fu(弗)"is no longer regarded as a combination of"bu+zhi(不+之)",but rather as a simple negative word with an emphatic tone.This paper also presents its own view on why"bu(不)"has acquired the reading of"fen wu qie(分勿切)".
关键词
上古汉语/否定词/不/弗/入声/叶氏周期
Key words
Old Chinese/negative word/bu(不)/fu(弗)/the entering tone/Jespersen's cycle
万方数据